


we’ll all take our chances

by nightquills



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Jean is dumb and he worries too much, M/M, Meddling Friends, Minor Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Premium banter, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:05:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5837419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightquills/pseuds/nightquills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean feels just a little bit pathetic whenever he’s reminded that he’s been pining after his best friend for literally years by now, and Jean’s other friends love to remind him. Despite how much they always say that he should own up and confess to Marco already, Jean is afraid. He holds steadfast to his attempts to hide his feelings--until one night when he doesn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	we’ll all take our chances

**Author's Note:**

> I’d like to start with a special shout out to [my one true bae-ta](http://aro-ackermans.tumblr.com/); not only did he give me the idea for this fic in the first place, but he also put up with all my whining and my constant requests for another person’s input during the literal months it took me to write this. God bless his patience and his encouragement, without which this would just be another of the drafts sitting in my drive for all eternity <3  
> Also, the story's title is taken from ["Do You Want It All?" by Two Door Cinema Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIJTXSApX7s)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from ["Bonfire Heart" by James Blunt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1j1qwQQ8-Q).

Jean finds that his fingers are absently tapping against the steering wheel to the beat of the song currently blasting from the radio when he pulls up to Marco’s house.

He changes the gear to park and pulls his phone from the cupholder it was sitting in, being careful not to dislodge the AUX cord attached to it. He types a quick “here” and sends it off before leaning back in his seat.

Marco doesn’t keep him waiting long. A moment after the text is marked as read, Marco comes jogging out his front door, jacket and beanie and gloves clutched in his hands instead of actually on his body.

At the sight of this, Jean can’t help but laugh as he leans over to preemptively turn up the heater a few notches.

When Marco reaches the car, he wrenches open the door and slides in before quickly pulling it closed behind him in an effort to stop as much of the frigid wind and soft flakes of snow from entering the car as possible.

Then he sits back and lets out a shiver that seems to run from his head to his toes. Marco looks over at Jean as he rubs his hands together and shoots him a sheepish smile that makes Jean’s heart clench warmly in his chest and his cheeks heat up slightly.

“Hi, Jean.”

Jean feels his lips stretching in an answering grin as he responds, “Hey. A little cold there, huh?”

“Well, I didn’t want to keep you waiting while I put everything on,” Marco says as he carefully folds his jacket and places it on his lap. “Excuse me for trying to be considerate, your highness,” he continues as he stares over at Jean with a raised eyebrow.

Jean gives Marco a snooty glance down the bridge of his nose and shoots back, “You’re excused.”

They both laugh as Jean puts the car back in drive and pulls away from the curb.

It’s a pretty quick drive to Ymir’s neighborhood, only taking about ten minutes, and that’s with Jean driving more carefully than he usually does to account for the thin layer of snow on the ground. The short drive is filled with gentle quips back and forth between the two boys, the warm puffing of the car’s heater, and the soft thrum of Jean’s music in the background.

They eventually pull up in front of Ymir’s house, and Jean carefully moves to park the car in the driveway next to Eren’s Jeep.  

Eren, of course, has parked in a manner that seems to be the way he approaches everything in life: haphazardly.

“God damn Jaeger, I swear to god--” Jean utters as he maneuvers the car into place. “Marco, you have my permission to give Jaeger’s gas guzzler a nice fucking love tap as you get out.”

Marco just looks at Jean and rolls his eyes--he must have been long used to Eren and Jean’s ability to antagonize each other over the smallest things after so many years of putting up with it--before carefully sliding out the small opening he makes with the passenger side door.

Jean reaches out to grab his phone from the cupholder and his own jacket and scarf from the backseat before getting out, too. It’s kind of a shock to go from such a warm space to such a chilled one, and he can feel goosebumps starting to raise themselves under the long sleeves of his shirt. He makes sure to shoot one last disdainful look at Eren’s shitty parking job before turning and following Marco up to Ymir’s doorstep.

Their strides are quick, but that doesn't stop tiny snowflakes from accumulating in their hair or across the breadth of their shoulders.

Marco leans forward to ring the doorbell, an exhaled breath forming wispy mist in front of his face. Jean reaches over absently to sweep his hands over Marco’s broad shoulders to get rid of the snow gathered there before it can melt and make the other boy’s shirt wet. Instead of being quick and efficient, his hands move gently and linger upon the other boy’s body in a manner that pretty much screams “NON-PLATONIC” in flashing neon lights.

Jean catches himself and retracts his hands quickly, turning away from Marco and shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his skinny jeans. He looks away in an effort to hide the blush he can feel rapidly pooling in his cheeks.

His thoughts are a paralyzed repetition of _shit_ and _fuck_ because he’s slipping up more and more like this lately, and he’s as hyperconscious of everything Marco does as he’s been since fucking sixth grade but he’s not as good at hiding it. Marco doesn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual, because it’s not like the two friends aren’t physically affectionate with one another on a regular basis, but sooner or later he’s bound to take notice that Jean’s touches really aren’t very friendly at all--

\--And then, before either of them has the chance to say anything, the door is swinging open and they’re greeted with the sight of Armin’s smile. “Hey, guys!”

“Hey, Armin,” Marco responds as he returns Armin’s smile with one of his own. Jean gives Armin a nod and an upturned twitch of the corners of his lips, relieved that Armin’s appearance has forced whatever words might have been said to the side.

Armin gestures for them to come in, so they do, and Marco asks Armin how he’s doing as the blond shuts the door behind them.

“I’m good, thanks--really glad that it’s break now.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jean agrees.

“Oh hey, do you guys want me to hang your coats up?” Armin asks, pointing towards the front hall closet.

“Thanks, Armin!” Marco says, quickly tucking his beanie and gloves into the pocket of his jacket before handing it over.

Jean shoves his scarf into the hood of his own jacket before handing it over to Armin, too. He then moves to toe off his boots, quickly pushing them with his foot to rest on the entry hall mat next to the other winter boots already aligned there.

Marco does the same, using Jean’s arm to balance himself as he discards his own shoes. While Jean just kind of left his shoes lying as they had came off, Marco bends over to quickly put his own pair upright and next to each other.

The three of them then turn to enter the house further, walking to the source of the distant yelling... Which turns out to be Ymir and Eren shouting at each other over _Mario Kart_ in the living room.

Jean feels that he should be less surprised than he is. He and Marco call out their greetings over the loud voices and are promptly ignored.

“Eren, move your damn head--you’re blocking the screen and I can’t see shit!” Ymir exclaims from where she’s kneeling on the large couch, leaning forward enough that Jean is mildly concerned she’s going to fall forward and crash into the coffee table just a few feet in front of her.

“You’re in first place, you don’t need to see!” Eren, on the other hand, is practically jumping up and down where he’s standing with his face more or less shoved in the TV screen. He’s swaying back and forth in turn with every twist of the Wii remote in his hands, and he is indeed blocking the center of the screen with his movements.

Jean turns to Marco and Armin and raises one of his eyebrows.

Armin quirks his lips ruefully and sighs. “Yeah, they’ve been like this practically since we arrived. We got here a bit early, so we were trying to wait for everyone to show up before actually starting to do anything.”

Marco gives Armin a commiserating shake of his head and responds, “Thanks. Who else are we waiting on?”

“Well, Krista and Mikasa are in the kitchen. No one else is here yet.” Armin leads the way to the aforementioned kitchen, and Jean and Marco follow behind him. “We moved here pretty soon after Ymir and Eren decided they wanted a rematch; before that, we were all playing together… And apparently the two of them still aren’t satisfied with the score, so yeah.”

Jean rolls his eyes, and Marco doesn’t fail to take notice. He bumps his shoulder against Jean’s with laughter in his eyes, and Jean knows it’s because Marco had long ago figured out that Jean’s disdain for Mario Kart comes from the fact that he’s fucking terrible at it.

Marco is considerate enough to abstain from making any comments, however, and they enter the kitchen just as Ymir is yelling out “Are you fucking kidding me?! Take your blue shell and shove it up your goddamn ass!”

Jean does his best to ignore the exclamations and instead turns with Marco to greet the girls sitting at the small kitchen table.

Mikasa and Krista look up from where they’re sitting with their hands clasped around warm mugs. It seems that they’ve been doing their best to carry on a conversation of their own despite the frequent outbursts in the background.

“Hey, guys! Glad you both could make it!” Krista says, beaming brightly.

Mikasa nods her agreement to Krista’s statement, giving a wave of her hand and a simple “Hi.”

Marco answers for both himself and Jean, responding, “Thanks, Krista. We’re glad to be here.” He punctuates his words with smile directed at Jean, and then there is once again yelling in the background.

Jean moves further into the room to rest his hands on the back of one of the unoccupied chairs and jokes, “Yeah, but it won’t stay that way for much longer if those idiots over there can’t shut up.”

That garners some laughs, and Krista says, “Yeah, they’re just a little bit, ah… competitive.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Mikasa murmurs decisively.

At that moment, everyone’s phone makes a noise near simultaneously. Jean raises an eyebrow and digs his phone out of where he had shoved it in his back pocket earlier.

The WhatsApp banner across Jean’s screen reads:

 

**Sasha Brouse @ “Snemes (Snail Memes)”:**

heeeeeeeey!!!!!! me and the conman are about to leave the grocery store

 

Armin chuckles. “So, I guess Sasha and Connie are on their way.“ He unlocks his phone and shoots Sasha back a text on the group’s behalf.

 

**Armin Arlert @ “Snemes (Snail Memes)”:**

ok guys. drive safe pls

 

“Has anyone heard from Annie, Bertholdt, or Reiner yet?” Mikasa asks.

Everyone replies in the negative to her question.

Then Krista stands up and says, “Oh god, I’m sorry--I didn’t ask if you two wanted anything to drink. We have soda, and if you want something warm we also have hot chocolate, coffee, apple cider, and like, fifty different types of tea.”

“It’s alright, Krista,” Marco assures. “I’ll have some hot chocolate, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, absolutely!” Krista shoots back before turning to Jean and shooting him a questioning look.

“Uh, I guess I’ll have tea,” Jean decides after a moment of consideration.

“Okay then!” Krista leads the way over to the cabinets lining the wall and opens one that Jean knows is filled with coffee mugs. More specifically, mismatched coffee mugs with witty and some admittedly not-so-witty text sprawled over them.

She steps back to let them each pick one and turns to start heating up a pot with water. Marco goes straight for what Jean knows is his favorite mug--[ a white one with a picture of a fox on it. ](http://i3.cpcache.com/product/1435137244/oh_for_fox_sake_mugs.jpg?side=b&height=225&width=225)

Jean picks up a white mug that’s seemingly blank…. Until he turns it over and [ sees the text written on the bottom proudly proclaiming “I’M A DOUCHE.” ](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vyOlnUV-L._SX425_.jpg)

Marco snickers from where he’s looking over Jean’s shoulder and closes the cabinet before Jean can exchange his mug. Marco then pulls Jean gently by his arm over to where Krista is standing by the stove.

Krista glances over at the mugs they’ve set on the counter and giggles. “Nice choice there, Jean.”

Jean grumbles under his breath good-naturedly and gently but pointedly nudges his elbow against Marco’s side.

Marco nudges Jean back before moving to grab one of the hot chocolate packets sitting on the island counter, shaking it so that all the powder settles at the bottom. He carefully rips it along the dotted line before turning and pouring it into his cup.

Krista breaks the momentary silence by calling out, “Mikasa, Armin, is there anything I can get you guys? Another drink?”

“No thanks, Krista,” Mikasa says, and Armin responds similarly.

“Cool. What flavor of tea do you want, Jean?” Krista questions.

“What do you got?”

She strides over to open another cabinet and look at its contents before responding. “We have blueberry, raspberry, ginseng, sleepytime, green tea, green tea with lemon, green tea with lemon and honey, liver disaster, ginger with honey, ginger without honey, vanilla almond, white truffle, blueberry chamomile, vanilla walnut, constant comment and... earl grey,” Krista lists off. “I honestly have no idea why Ymir’s family has this many different kinds of tea, but there you go.”

“Hmm... I’ll try the vanilla almond, please.”

“Sure thing,” Krista says as she reaches up and grabs the box. She calls out a “Heads up!” before gently tossing it in Jean’s direction.

He catches it with minimal fumbling and grabs a tea bag before tossing it back to Krista with a “Thanks.”

“No problem.” She looks over at the pot on the stove, which is now putting off a small amount of steam. “The water should be ready in a few more minutes,” Krista assesses.

“Alright,” Jean replies, leading the way back to the kitchen table. This time he pulls out a seat and actually sits down. Then, seeing that Marco is still standing, Jean nudges the chair across from him with his feet to push it out slightly from under the table.

Marco drags the chair out the rest of the way and plops himself down into it, shooting Jean a small smile of thanks.

There’s silence for a few minutes as everyone seems to check their phones. Mikasa announces that she’s gotten a text from Annie saying that the blonde is on her way.

Marco asks the group, “So, what’s the plan for tonight when everyone gets here?”

“I guess we’ll probably play your typical kinds of party games,” Mikasa says.

“Yeah,” Krista adds. “If all else fails, we can break out the Xbox or _Cards Against Humanity_.”

Armin says, “Yeah, but let’s be real--if we do that, we all know it’s eventually going to degenerate into another pissing contest.”

“That’s true,” Marco replies, shooting a rather pointed glance at Jean.

Jean just hums and rolls his eyes in response because he knows he can’t deny it. What can he say? He gets pleasure out of trying to kick Jaeger’s ass when he can. But it’s not like he’s the only competitive person in their group.

That thought is punctuated by a frustrated scream from Eren and gleeful cackling from Ymir in the other room.

All of the others have some things they can get slightly competitive over, too. One incident that really comes to mind is when Marco, Reiner, and Eren faced off over _Just Dance_ back in ninth grade and accidentally broke the glass coffee table in Sasha’s living room. _Ahhh, good times._

Jean is kind enough to not bring up that recollection, even as it causes a grin to stretch across his face in remembrance. Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes next to him had been distraught with guilt over the incident, and though he’s sure that Marco would probably find it funny in hindsight, he doesn’t risk it.

Instead, Jean suggests, “We could always watch a movie or something too, if we get bored with everything else.”

“...But that raises the question of what movie to watch--and it always takes us forever to come to a decision,” Mikasa points out.

“That’s true too,” Marco remarks. “I guess we can cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Jean shrugs, saying, “As long as you guys don’t fucking rope me into watching another horror movie, I’ll settle for pretty much anything.”

“Mhm, yeah, I’m not too much of a fan of those either,” Krista agrees as she stands up to go and check the stove. “Jean, Marco, the water is ready,” she announces. She reaches over to turn off the burner and begin pouring the water.

“‘Kay,” Marco shoots back. “I’ll grab your tea, Jean.”

“Thanks,” Jean answers, tracing the strong line of Marco’s back with his eyes after the brunet has stood up and turned away to walk over to where Krista is standing.

When Jean turns his gaze back towards the table a few moments later, Armin is shooting him an amused and knowing smile.

“Keep your mouth shut,” Jean mouths silently, staring threateningly into Armin’s mirthful blue eyes. Armin makes a placating gesture with his hands as his shoulders shake in silent chuckles.

Mikasa just lets out a soft sigh, rolling her eyes exasperatedly.

Marco comes to the table to set down Jean’s tea in front of him, raising an eyebrow at Jean’s tense posture and the glare he’s shooting in Armin’s direction. He gives Armin a questioning glance, but the blond just shakes his head.

Marco gives a slight shrug before going back to fix his own drink.

Krista follows after Marco, giving Jean a spoon, small bowl, and some sugar packets. She calls out to Marco to ask if there’s anything else she can get for him, and when he responds in the negative, she sits back down in her seat.

Jean is mindlessly pressing the tea bag against the inside of his mug when his attention is drawn by Marco setting his own mug down on the table. He can’t help but let a snort pass his lips at the sight of Marco’s cup--from the looks of it, it’s filled _at least_ a third of the way with marshmallows.

This isn't the first time that Jean has seen Marco’s love for marshmallows, but damn if it isn't funny every time.

“Hey, Marco, do you maybe want some hot chocolate to go with your marshmallows?” Jean can’t help but ask.

“Shhhh,” Marco shushes. “Stay in your own lane and let me enjoy my life.” He takes one of the marshmallows at the top of his drink that hasn’t yet touched the hot chocolate itself and flicks it at Jean, managing to hit him right in the chest.

Jean rockets back against his chair at the impact, grasping his chest theatrically and groaning, “Oh god, I’ve been hit. Man down. I repeat, man down.”

“Medic!” Armin calls out, earning a snort from Mikasa and laughs from Marco and Krista.

Jean just groans again, closing his eyes and lolling his head to one side listlessly. His body slumps forwards in his seat.

“The medic is too late. Truly tragic,” Mikasa says, making as if to wipe a tear away from her eye.

“We salute you, fallen soldier,” Krista solemnly adds, pulling an imaginary hat off of her head and clutching it to her chest in mock respect.

The moment is broken by the somewhat distant ringing of the doorbell, and Mikasa volunteers to go and get it.

After Mikasa strides away to go and get the door, Krista stands and says, “I guess that I’d better take that as a cue to go and get Ymir and Eren to turn off the Wii.”

“That's probably a good idea,” Armin replies. “Do you want some help?”

Krista takes a moment before responding, “...If you're offering, I certainly wouldn't say no.”

Armin stands as well and both of the blonds walk out of the kitchen. And then Marco and Jean are alone together in the kitchen.

Jean looks down at his drink and pulls out the tea bag, placing it in the little dish Krista had provided. He tears the edge off of a sugar packet and dumps it unceremoniously into his tea, stirring a couple of times to get it to dissolve.

When Jean looks up, it's to find that Marco is kind of staring at him. Before Jean can say anything--maybe ask if he has something on his face--Marco looks away, raising one of his hands to cover the cheek facing Jean.

The window Marco has turned to gaze out of looks over Ymir's backyard, which is filled with drifts of untouched snow. Marco speaks into his hand, but he speaks too softly for Jean to hear him over the ruckus caused by Eren and Ymir’s protests in the other room.

Jean asks Marco to repeat himself, but before the brunet can respond, Mikasa leads the way into the kitchen with Annie, Connie, and Sasha in tow. All four of them are carrying grocery bags in their hands, which are quickly dropped on the kitchen counters.

"Hey, guys!!" Sasha greets excitedly.

Connie follows behind her, letting out an enthused "'Sup, nerds?!"

Annie just gives the boys a concise "Hi.”

Marco and Jean give back their own greetings in response. Then Jean asks, “How are you guys doing?”

“Cold,” Annie responds, drawing her arms close to her sides and putting her gloved hands into the pockets of the her puffy winter coat--Jean wonders how long it’s gonna be until the heating in Ymir’s house makes it uncomfortable enough for her to take it off.

“I’m good, I’m good,” is Sasha’s response.

“I’m fucking PUMPED,” Connie exclaims. “We brought so much fucking food. It’s gonna be great,” he says as he starts unpacking the grocery bags, throwing their contents back down harshly on the counter. Mikasa and Sasha follow behind him, organizing the food into different piles.

Marco makes a contemplative noise and says kindly, “....I think you guys may have once again overestimated how much we’re all going to eat.”

Conne just scoffs and responds, “No way, man. And even if we did, that’s the opposite of a problem.”

“Whatever you say, Connie,” Mikasa mutters sarcastically, garnering a nod from Annie and Jean.

Sasha lets out an offended gasp, raising a hand to cover her mouth. “Is that doubt that I’m detecting? Connie, do you think these fools have the audacity to doubt us?”

“It sure fuckin’ seems like it, Sash… How do we punish this heinous transgression against us?”

“Have mercy,” Jean pleads, having more than once been the target of some of the duo’s plots for revenge.

“...Maybe a little bit of mercy. Not because you deserve it, but because we love you guys. Let it be known that we are merciful gods,” Sasha says.

“Gods, huh? I like the sound of that!” Connie comments, laughing heartily and flexing his arms in what he seems to think is an alluring manner.

“That’s because you like having your ego stroked,” Jean quips against his better judgement, not quite being able to stop himself before the words leave his mouth. He’s never had very good self control.

Connie just gives Jean a look. “Okay, first of all, who doesn't? Second of all, kiss my ass. Third, it’s not too late to revoke any offer of mercy we may have decided to show you.”

Jean winces and laughs a little bit nervously as he remembers that Connie and Sasha have very detailed dirt on all the particulars of Jean’s hopeless crush on Marco. Would they hesitate to use that knowledge to get back at Jean? His trust in his friends says no, but his actual knowledge of their characters and the way they always groan at him to “--just fucking get over yourself and tell Marco how you feel instead of moping about it, god dammit--” makes him reconsider.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Jean relents. “Would you like me to throw myself across your altar and plead for forgiveness for me and my compatriots? Maybe bring some offerings?”

“That’s a tempting offer,” Sasha contemplates, “but our altar is holy ground, and we don’t want you desecrating it with your filthy paws--who knows where _you’ve_ been these past seventeen years.”

“I am honestly feeling so attacked right now,” Jean laments to everyone else's laughs.

“Oh, stop your whining. You brought this on yourself.”

“Yeah,” Mikasa agrees. “And you’ve made them crave vengeance even more over the rest of us, so you’re not getting any sympathy from my corner either.”

“Annie?” Jean asks weakly.

“Nuh-uh,” she retorts from where she’s situated at the kitchen island, nonchalantly popping marshmallows into her mouth.

“Marco, are you really going to let them treat your best friend this way?” Jean pleads, shooting Marco a pitiful look.

“On this particular occasion, yeah,” Marco says, laughing softly.

“Wow, okay. I see how it is. I’ll see myself out, then, since none of you are willing to defend my virtue.”

Jean makes as if to get up from the table, but Marco leans across the table and grabs his forearms. “Aww, don’t be like that. You know we love you. Deep down... Really deep down.”

“I came out to have a good time,” Jean mutters, pulling his hands away from Marco and burying his face in them to cover the steady blush he can feel heating his cheeks. He knows that Marco is most likely referring to platonic love and not the kind of love that Jean really desires, but he can’t exactly make his stupid heart listen to his mind instead of fucking around with his emotions.

“There, there,” Sasha murmurs consolingly, patting Jean on the back as if he were a particularly sad puppy.

And at that moment, the doorbell rings again.

Annie says, “Oh, Bertl said that he’d be going to pick up Reiner right before I left my house. That’s probably them right now.”

“I’ll get the door!” Ymir calls out from the other room.

She gets a chorus of yeahs and okays in response. A minute later, she comes into the kitchen with Krista’s hand clasped in her own, Reiner and Bertholdt behind her. Eren and Armin trail a few paces behind Reiner and Bertholdt.

“H-hey, guys,” Bertholdt greets, giving a everyone a soft wave and a small smile.

Reiner echoes Bertholdt’s greeting, but his own is a lot louder and a lot more enthused.

Everyone says hi back, and Ymir asks if she can get anyone a drink--Reiner asks for a soda, Bertl for apple cider, and Annie, Connie, and Sasha go for hot chocolate.

Thankfully there’s still a bunch of hot water left from when Krista made Jean and Marco’s drinks, so Ymir is able to get everyone taken care of pretty quickly. After that, she asks everyone what they feel up to doing.

“No more Mario Kart,” Krista says warningly, earning her a sad pout from her girlfriend.

“Awww, babe--”

“Don’t you ‘awww, babe’ me, Ymir Isolda Carsten. Besides, we don’t have enough controllers for everyone to play at the same time.”

“I guess Mario Kart is out, then, but there’s still plenty of other stuff. I’m up for whatever y’all want to do,” Marco says, looking around at the others to see if they have any ideas.

“...Truth or dare?” Reiner suggests.

“That’s a true classic--I’m in,” Eren says, smiling wildly--his smiles have a habit of appearing just a little bit offsetting and threatening because of the way he bares his teeth so gleefully, and this smile is no exception.

Everyone seems to nod along or give some vocal sign of their acquiescence.

“Sounds good to me!” Sasha says, sharing a conspiring glance with Connie. Then Jean catches Connie looking over and giving him a wicked smirk, and Jean seriously reconsiders his participation in the game because _that_ is a look has embarrassed him and gotten him dragged into trouble more times than he can count.

“....I’ll sit out for now,” Jean bites out after a few seconds of heavy consideration.

It takes a moment for his friends to process his words, and then he’s getting hit with a barrage of complaints.

“Oh my god, Jean, really?”

“Why you gotta be like that?”

“You’re really gonna be _that_ guy?”

“I respect your decision, but that doesn't make you any less of a major party pooper right now.”

“Well, unlike some of you--” Jean counters, “--I do indeed have some self-preservation instincts. I know Sasha and Connie are a little annoyed at me right now, and I know that means that I do _not_ want to be in a position where they can basically make me say or do anything they want.”

“Oh, come on! That’s a cop out, and you know it!” Eren exclaims, looking at Jean with fire in his eyes.

“...It also raises the question of what exactly you feel you have to hide,” Mikasa says.

Ymir quips, “Yeah, Jean. Feel like sharing with the class?”

“No. I’m quite alright, thank you,” Jean retorts, crossing his arms and doing his best not to look at Sasha and Connie, who have found this all quite amusing. The two of them are laughing, and Jean knows he has only managed to delay the inevitable. _Nothing like two friends to fill your life with a pervasive sense of coming doom, huh?_

“Hey, guys, it’s cool,” Marco says, finally coming to Jean’s defense. “We can’t force him to participate if he doesn’t want to, and we still have plenty of people to make the game interesting. And it’s not like we’re going to be playing truth or dare for the entire night, right? You can always join the next game, Jean.”

He shoots Jean a smile to go along with his words, and Jean can feel an automatic smile come to his lips in response. And then Marco just has to tack on, “... Even if I am going to use my executive privilege as best friend to make you tell me what’s going on later.”

Jean can’t help but groan, even if he really should have seen that coming. He grimaces a little bit as everyone else laughs, and follows his friends as Ymir leads the way to her basement.

That's certainly going to be an awkward conversation, and Jean definitely isn’t looking forward to it. What’s he going to say? ‘ _Oh yeah, sorry Marco, it’s just that Sasha and Connie know that I harbor a raging crush on you that's unlikely to go away any time this century, and they wanted to use that knowledge to get back at me. That being said, I hope you aren’t grossed out by the fact that your best friend is perving on you and has been doing so for the past five years. Whatever, no big deal. Mind passing me the other controller for the PS4?’_

That would go over well. And by “well,” Jean means that it would be a fucking disaster. His mind conjures up a series of worst-case scenarios in a flash as he moves to take a seat on one of the seats littered around the basement.

The first one is that Marco would hate him for his feelings, but Jean is able to discard that train of thought pretty quickly because he knows that simply isn't the kind of person that Marco is.

But what’s nearly as bad as Marco hating Jean is the boy’s second scenario. It starts out as Marco kindly but resolutely telling Jean that his feelings aren’t returned, probably apologizing--that alone leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and makes his chest feel heavy, because he knows that’s exactly what the other would do, with the way he’s always so empathetic towards the feelings of others--and then that same kind-hearted nature would leave Marco feeling guilty, like he owed something to Jean that he knew he couldn’t provide.

That guilt, combined with Jean’s feelings still hanging between them, would make Marco uncomfortable and awkward around him. Jean knows that he couldn’t bear to see Marco pulling away from him, and he couldn’t bear to see his friendship with the other boy slowly and steadily disintegrating in front of him like that.

The thought of Marco becoming distant, making excuses about why they can’t hang out until finally they never talk at all--it hits Jean like a punch to his stomach, making it hard to breath for a moment. Jean values his relationship with Marco above most of the things in his life, and he’d rather take Marco in any way he can get him than risk losing it all.

Then Jean gets a text notification that tears him from his thoughts, and he pulls out his phone to see that he’s gotten a message from Sasha.

 

**Sasha Brouse:**

nice try, jeanbo

 

Before he can respond, he gets another volley of messages.

 

**Sasha Brouse:**

but i mean like rlly, bud

 

**Sasha Brouse:**

we wouldn’t just throw u to the wolves if we weren’t sure u would get something good out of it

 

**Sasha Brouse:**

if u know what i mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

Jean can’t help but let out a scoff. _Yeah, right._ He looks up from his phone screen to give Sasha and Connie a very unimpressed face. He gets a pair of tongues stuck out at him in response, which garners a deep sigh that somehow only increases the pressure he feels in his chest.

“Hey, Kirschtein, why the long face?” Eren says. His face shows _some_ true concern, but that concern is almost totally overshadowed by the quirk at the corner of his lips.

“If you follow that up with another horse joke, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Geez, man, you’re so violent... And touchy.”

“Hey guys, as much fun as this love/hate drama is, I’d like to actually get around to playing the game sometime today,” Reiner says, miming filing his nails in boredom.

“You’re right--it certainly is a love/hate relationship. He hates me, and I love to hate him,” Jean can’t help but say as he rolls his eyes.

“You know you love me, Jean.”

“Go ahead and keep dreaming about that, Eren.”

“Wow, you’d wish nightmares on me? Not only is he violent, ladies and gentlemen, but he’s also just plain mean.”

“Fuck off, Jaeger.”

Marco clears his throat, and Jean gives out a quick and not quite genuine “Sorry.” Eren echoes him a second later.

Jean rolls his eye at the raised eyebrow Marco shoots in his direction, but he also gives the brunet a smile to try and reassure him that nothing’s wrong.

Jean settles back into his seat and turns his full attention to Ymir, who’s standing in the middle of the not-quite-even circle formed by the ring of couches and plush chairs.

“So, guys. Who wants to suffer--I mean, who wants to go first?”

“I’ll do it,” Krista says with a cheery smile.

“....Okay,” Ymir responds, sending her girlfriend a smile of her own as she sits down next to her. “Who wants to ask Krista?”

Sasha raises her hand right away, and Jean knows from personal experience that her innocent and eager appearance hides a maelstrom of embarrassing questions and tortuous dares. Admittedly, they’re always pretty funny as long as _he’s_ not the one that has to complete them.

_Oh, Krista, run while you still can,_ Jean thinks with a sick sense of amusement.

Unsurprisingly, Krista does not hear his thoughts and does no such thing. Instead, she shrugs her shoulders and turns to face Sasha in her seat.

“So, Krista. Truth or dare?” Sasha asks, leaning forward from her place next to Connie on a navy colored couch to stare intently at the other girl.

“I’ll go with dare this time.”

“Mhm, alright, give me a minute to think,” she says, dragging a hand up to her face to tap her cheek in thought. A few moments pass and then a slow smirk begins to grow on Sasha’s face. “...Okay, I got it. I’m going to find the oldest thing in Ymir’s fridge that’s past its expiration date. If it’s food, you’re gonna eat a tablespoon of it, and if it’s liquid, you’re gonna drink a shot glass of it.”

Krista scrunches her nose distastefully, and Ymir pats her girlfriend sympathetically on her shoulder. The look on the tall brunette’s face suggests that it’s been quite a while since the fridge was last cleared out, and her grimace escalates the soft sniggers already circulating around the room.

Krista reluctantly relents with a sighed “Okay.”

“Excellent,” Sasha smiles. “I’ll be back in a minute, then.” She gets up from her seat and bounds towards the stairs leading up to the main level. Her feet make audible thudding noises against the steps as she ascends out of their sight.

Krista lets out a soft and pitiful groan. She turns to her girlfriend and asks her, “Any idea what I’ll be getting?”

Ymir laughs and raises a hand to rub at the back of her neck sheepishly. “Uhh, I think we have some yogurt that went bad last week? Other than that, I really couldn’t tell you.”

“Great,” Krista responds.

“When _was_ the last time you guys went through your fridge?” Armin asks.

“It’s certainly been a while. Like, I want to say it’s only been a couple of months. Realistically speaking, though… Maybe four? I mean, we don’t let anything that’s obviously growing its own ecosystem stick around, but we’re pretty bad about checking the dates on condiments and shit.”

“You’re really, _really_ not helping to comfort me at all, honey,” Krista says, and Ymir leans in to kiss her apologetically on her cheek.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“Those are famous last words, Ymir. Famous last words,” Connie says, snickering into his hand. Everyone but Ymir nods along, and then they all start to talk among themselves while waiting for Sasha to come back.   

Marco is sitting on the corner of a couch positioned right next to the chair Jean is occupying, and the freckled boy looks over at Jean with concern in his eyes. “You doing alright? I know you and Eren always bicker like that, but you looked a little upset earlier.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jean tries to reassure the other boy.

He can tell that Marco doesn’t really believe him, but he seems to pick up on the fact that Jean doesn't want to talk about it and mercifully changes the subject. “So, do you think Krista is going to try and get back at Sasha for whatever nasty shit she’s going to give her?”

“I think she will, but probably not tonight. Let Sasha think she doesn’t hold a grudge first, right? That way she’ll be surprised when Krista’s payback comes out of fucking nowhere.”

Marco thinks for a second before agreeing.

Then Jean says, “At least it’ll be funny for the rest of us, right?”

“You’re right,” Marco replies, smiling widely. “I guess we shouldn’t be too shocked that Sasha’s dare had something to do with food, but somehow I was still just a little bit surprised.”

“For shame, Marco, for shame.” Marco just rolls his eyes in response.

At that moment, Sasha comes down the stairs with both hands hidden behind her back, a wide grin stretched over her face. She walks over so that she’s in front of where Krista is seated, and then she leans down so that she’s eye level with the sitting girl. “Hey, Krista, I got you a gift,” she jokes, carefully holding out a shot glass filled with a pale and cloudy yellow liquid.

“You shouldn’t have,” Krista says as she hesitantly takes it. “Really.”

“Just think of it as an early Christmas present!”

“So what is my ‘present,’ exactly?” the blonde asks, staring disdainfully down at the glass in her hands.

“....Lemon juice that kinda, maybe, _possibly_ expired back in June,” Sasha responds, looking almost but not quite repentant.

Krista’s next words are overflowing with sarcasm. “Spectacular. I just want you to know that you’re definitely my favorite person in the entire world right now, Sasha.”

“I know, which is why I decided to bring you another gift.”

“Oh god. No more gifts, please,” Krista groans out, making her friends laugh.

“Awww, but you’ll like this one. I promise!” Sasha cajoles. She pulls her other hand from behind her back, and in it is a water bottle. She shakes it a little, saying “You can chug it right after to help the taste go away.”

“Thank heaven for small mercies,” Krista says as she takes the bottle and passes it to Ymir, who opens it and holds it wordlessly in her girlfriend’s direction. “I guess I should just get this over with already, right?”

Everyone leans forwards in their seats, giving Krista their full attention. She raises the glass slowly to her mouth, her face scrunching up more and more as it gets closer to her lips.

Jean thinks to himself that she looks like she’s just smelt the nastiest baby diaper in the entire world, and her expression makes Jean cackle in spite of the small pings of empathy in his chest. Pretty soon the only person that isn’t laughing is Krista herself.

Finally the edge of the glass is less than a centimeter away from Krista’s face, and she takes a deep breath, steeling herself, before opening her mouth and tipping the glass quickly. Her face puckers horrendously, eyes scrunching closed, and for a moment it seems that she’s going to spit the liquid out.

With visible effort she swallows, and just after that she’s coughing like she’s trying to get rid of one of her lungs. Then Krista stands, grabs the water bottle from Ymir’s hands, and vaults over the couch to run to the bathroom. They can all see her gulping down the water through the open door, swallowing some and gargling and spitting out the rest the rest. After she finishes the bottle, she literally leans over and opens her mouth under the faucet of the sink. Jean is laughing so hard that he has the beginnings of a stitch forming in his side.

Everyone has more or less calmed down when Krista finally retakes her place on the couch with a sour look on her face. _But not as sour as the lemon juice she had to drink,_ Jean thinks, and that sets him off again.

Krista raises her voice slightly to speak over the giggles reignited by Jean’s laughter. “Just so everyone is perfectly aware, I really hate you all right now. But that’s okay, because I feel like I’m not going to be the only one getting laughed at tonight.”

Krista looks around consideringly at everyone around her before finally settling her gaze on Marco.

“So, Marco--truth or dare?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking it through--I certainly hope that you enjoyed it! This is actually the longest thing I've ever written so far, so I'm just a little bit nervous posting it.  
> Hopefully the next chapter won’t take nearly as long as this one did. If you ever want to get on my case to _just write, dammit,_ I do have a [tumblr](http://nightquills.tumblr.com/). Feel free to bother me anytime.


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